![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/vdvdvfdc_ssscsccsccssc_xscssxxccss_1760442503707_1760442510714.jpg\" "\\"An")
An athlete had a panic attack during a six-hour Flydubai journey after strong body odour in the cabin caused severe distress.(Instagram\/manirostom) The incident mid-flight<\/p>\nAn Egyptian athlete has shared a candid video on Instagram recounting a distressing experience during a six-hour Flydubai flight, where a strong body odour triggered her anxiety and led to a panic attack.<\/p>\n
An athlete had a panic attack during a six-hour Flydubai journey after strong body odour in the cabin caused severe distress.(Instagram\/manirostom) The incident mid-flight<\/p>\n
In her emotional video, Manal Rostom said, \u201cGood morning, guys. So, basically, I just wanted to explain a little bit what happened to me on the plane yesterday. As much as some people thought it was funny, it was actually pretty serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cBody odour is a serious thing. When you are in a closed space, and for someone who does mildly suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, it can get pretty serious. We just detected a really, really bad smell. The cabin crew identified the source, but there was nothing they could do. A couple of hours into the flight, I started to feel claustrophobic and panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rostom said the situation reminded her of being on Mount Everest, where oxygen was limited, but unlike the mountain, there was no way out on a flight. \u201cI started crying, and they just tried to calm me down. They gave me food and water, and my friend was there, so we managed to contain it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Praising the cabin crew<\/p>\n
Rostom credited the Flydubai crew and her companion for helping her through the episode. \u201cHad I not had a very supportive cabin crew that very, very professionally contained the issue, this could have been a really bad situation. And all this because someone is not looking after their hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Check out the clip here:<\/p>\n
Her long caption detailed the experience further: \u201cDisclaimer: this will probably go down as the most embarrassing video I had to make. I got a panic attack on a six-hour flight yesterday, and had it not been for the @flydubai cabin crew and my friend @injyelbadawy, I don\u2019t know what would have happened. All because of excessive BO.\u201d<\/p>\n
She urged viewers to speak up about hygiene issues, saying, \u201cIn 2025, it\u2019s our duty to let people know.\u201d Rostom also explained her panic disorder, referencing a past panic attack on Everest and how she manages her anxiety through breathing and meditation.<\/p>\n
Social media reactions<\/p>\n
Her post drew support from users who empathised with her ordeal. One user commented, \u201cGirl, you\u2019re so brave for speaking up about this. I have such a sensitive sense of smell.\u201d Another said, \u201cWhat a beautiful and respectful way of addressing this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
A follower added, \u201cI had a similar experience recently in an Uber ride. It was unbearable, and I completely understand how you felt.\u201d Others echoed her sentiment, writing, \u201cThank you for raising this. I have very heightened senses,\u201d and \u201cThank you so much for highlighting this topic.\u201d<\/p>\n
HT.com has reached out to Manal Rostom for further comments. The story will be updated following her response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Egyptian athlete has shared a candid video on Instagram recounting a distressing experience during a six-hour Flydubai…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[2665,164320,164318,164319,105,218,20338,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-500778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-anxiety","9":"tag-body-odour","10":"tag-egyptian-athlete","11":"tag-flydubai-flight","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-panic-attack","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115376754990329010","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}